"The peak of Chinese tangerine sales usually falls in the period around Chinese Spring Festival [25 January, 2020], but the outbreak of the corona virus delayed the harvest season by one month in comparison with previous years. This has put immense pressure on tangerine sales. We have temporarily halted wholesale trade and we rely on intermediaries to deliver our products so we do not suffer financial loss during this COVID-19 epidemic." This is according to manager Liu, a spokesperson for Chengdu Best Fruit Agricultural Industry Co., Ltd. Manager Liu recently shared insight in current conditions on the Chinese tangerine market.
"Sales conditions are much better this month. Last month we had orders, but we did not have enough labor force to process our orders on time. This month the situation improved. We have the advantage of secure retail channels. We do not have to worry about finding the retail channels to sell our tangerines. However, the order volume has declined across all channels. The overall volume of orders is 4 times smaller than around this time last year. Although we are organizing some promotional activities and the delivery speed has improved, we still can not compete with last year. The sales speed and sales volume on our e-commerce platform is quite high, unlike our offline sales channels, even higher than last year."
"The balance between demand and supply was temporarily lost in the Chinese market. Suppliers were unable to travel to Sichuan prior to the 20th of February to purchase tangerines from farmers. The orchards therefore had difficulty selling their stock. Some farmers were unable to move any of their stock. The purchase price at that time was around 3 yuan [0.42 USD] per 0.5 kg. When the quarantine measures were relaxed on the 20th of February, traders visited the orchards in large numbers and even though the available purchase volumes were still not that large, the price quickly increased to around 5 yuan [0.70 USD] per 0.5 kg. Afterwards, when suppliers released larger volumes and supply began to exceed demand, the pressure on the purchase price started to grow. Last week the purchase price dropped from 6 yuan [0.85 USD] per 0.5 kg to 4 yuan [0.56 USD] per 0.5 kg. Suppliers who hoarded their stock suffered financial loss. We decided not to accumulate our stock during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we temporarily halted wholesale trade. We are selling our remaining stock through supermarkets and e-commerce platforms. Our price is therefore still conform to the market price and we have been able to avoid financial loss."
"The main tangerine varieties on the Chinese market now are Chunjian and Shiranui tangerines. The fresh Chunjian tangerine is approaching the end of the sales season. 95% of the tangerines have already entered the warehouses. Only 5% is left to harvest. The sales season of the Shiranui tangerines begins slightly later than the sales season of the Chunjian tangerines. About 50% of the tangerines are still on the tree," explained manager Liu.
In addition to tangerines, the company also has a large pomegranate plantation in Huili, Sichuan. Their "Red Ruby" brand pomegranates have received great market feedback.
For more information:
Liu Wen
Sichuan Best Fruit Agricultural Industry Co., Ltd.
E-mail: liuwen@b-guo.com
Tel.: +86 18628090302